THE Labor group Associated Labor Unions is not worried with the possible influx of Chinese workers competing with Filipino workers for local job opportunities if President Rodrigo Duterte could attract Chinese investors and create quality and permanent jobs for an estimated 10 million jobs.
ALU national executive vice president Gerard Seno expressed hope that Duterte and his Cabinet economic cluster team could attract Chinese infrastructure projects and investments that would ultimately provide decent, quality and permanent jobs for an estimated 10.4 million Filipinos who are currently unemployed.
“Foreign workers are not banned to work in the country. But they are regulated, thus, we are hopeful that President Duterte’s trip to China would bring in job-creating investments for Filipinos. We trust that President Duterte knows by heart the need to provide decent employment for millions of Filipinos who are desperate for jobs,” he said.
The ALU is the biggest confederation of labor unions in the country with unions in agriculture, services and manufacturing sectors working in public and private enterprises.
As of January 2016 Labor Force Survey, the Philippine Statistics Authority said there were 7.81 million unemployed and 2.46 million underemployed Filipinos.
Though foreign workers are not absolutely banned to work in the country, influx of skills and professions are governed and regulated by Labor Department Order No. 146-15 series of 2015, also known as the Revised Rules for the Issuance of Employment Permits to Foreign Nationals.
Foreign workers with certain expertise and identified specialized skills are allowed to work in the country and companies in the Philippines are allowed to hire foreign workers if the needed skills, expertise and professions are not available in the local job market.
In any case, the applicant is required by law to individually apply for an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) prior to or upon arrival in the country at any DOLE regional or field office where the intended place of work is.
The application is then subjected to a labor market testing procedure for one month. If there is no objection to the position being applied for, AEP application is granted.
Seno said: “If it is inevitable that there would be new Chinese investors who would be bringing in Chinese workers to build infrastructure projects, they must apply for an Alien Employment Permit issued by the Labor department.
“We urge Chinese workers to comply with the law and legalize their stay so that they can be protected from various labor abuses and exploitation. They can also form unions or associations among themselves to be able to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits for themselves.”
In the last quarter of 2013, scores of Chinese workers found to have worked without AEPs were apprehended and deported after raids by National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration agents and DoLE representatives in their work place in Bataan, Batangas and Cagayan de Oro.